More Summer: Roast Chicken with Stuffed Zucchini Flowers
My backlog of posts that are written-but-not-posted has gotten the better of me. This is from 4 weeks ago - obviously, the farmer's markets have had vegetables for a while now!
The farmer's market finally has more to offer than plants, and I couldn't be more excited. A recent purchase of a freshly-butchered chicken may have changed my life forever. Really.
I've read it and read it and read it: Know thy farmer. Eat local. Know thy farmer. Eat local. But last week was my first chance to really try it, when I asked the proprietor of the corner stand at Farmers @ the Firehouse what he had been up to this week. His answer? Lots and lots of butchering.
I'm not originally from Pittsburgh; I grew up in central-northern Michigan (but really, what part of Michigan isn't northern?) at the corner of Soybean and Corn. 4H was big, but I come from an academic, townie family, not a farm family. While I certainly learned to appreciate the bounty of the farmer's market as a child, I never had to work the land myself, and meat always came in plastic trays and freezer bags from the supermarket.
Not anymore.
Matthew and another friend came for dinner on the Night of the Life-Altering Bird. I thought the star of the show was going to be the ricotta-stuffed zucchini flowers. But instead, the three of us couldn't shut up about the chicken. I barely did anything to it. I guess I never tasted chicken before.
Roasted Chicken with Stuffed Zucchini Flowers
For the chicken:
One 3 - 4 lb chicken, preferably butchered within the week
8 sprigs thyme
1 tablespoon salt
1/4 cup fresh mixed chopped herbs: thyme, oregano, basil, sage, parsley or whatever savory herbs you have on hand
Olive oil, to drizzle
For the stuffed zucchini flowers:
12 zucchini flowers, rinsed
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small shallot, minced
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 cup ricotta
1/4 cup fresh asiago, grated
1/8 fresh mixed chopped herbs, as above
3 tablespoons butter, melted
Day 1
1. Flatten (aka butterfly) the chicken and place it on a rimmed baking sheet.
2. Loosen the skin over the breast. Slide a full sprig of thyme between the breast meat and skin. Repeat on the other breast and over each thigh/leg.
3. Mix salt and chopped herbs together into a loose paste. Cover the skin of the chicken liberally with the salt paste. Refrigerate, uncovered, for at least 8 hours or overnight.
Day 2
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Drizzle the chicken with olive oil, then roast on the baking sheet for about one hour, or until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reads 175 degrees. Remove from oven and let stand 10 minutes.
2. Once the bird is in the oven: Heat olive oil over medium-low heat. Saute shallot and garlic until translucent, taking care not to burn the garlic.
3. Mix the sauteed garlic and shallot with the ricotta, asiago and minced herbs in medium bowl. Transfer ricotta mixture to a pastry bag, or make one yourself by cutting the corner off a zipper baggie.
4. Pipe the ricotta mixture into each of the cleaned zucchini flowers and place them on a cookie sheet. Drizzle melted butter over the flowers.
5. Put the flowers in the oven when the chicken has about 10 minutes to go. When you remove the chicken, let the flowers go another 5-10 minutes, until the cheese is oozing out and bubbling on the cookie sheet.
6. Serve the chicken in quarters with a few bubbly-cheese flowers on the side.
Tasty Tips
Refrigerating the chicken in the nude helps the skin crisp up in the oven. Don't shirk the fridge time... or the resting time, post-roast.
I found one of these guys inside my zucchini flowers... fortunately BEFORE I stuffed it! Double-check yours as well, or you'll be eating unintentional escargot.
The farmer's market finally has more to offer than plants, and I couldn't be more excited. A recent purchase of a freshly-butchered chicken may have changed my life forever. Really.
I've read it and read it and read it: Know thy farmer. Eat local. Know thy farmer. Eat local. But last week was my first chance to really try it, when I asked the proprietor of the corner stand at Farmers @ the Firehouse what he had been up to this week. His answer? Lots and lots of butchering.
I'm not originally from Pittsburgh; I grew up in central-northern Michigan (but really, what part of Michigan isn't northern?) at the corner of Soybean and Corn. 4H was big, but I come from an academic, townie family, not a farm family. While I certainly learned to appreciate the bounty of the farmer's market as a child, I never had to work the land myself, and meat always came in plastic trays and freezer bags from the supermarket.
Not anymore.
Matthew and another friend came for dinner on the Night of the Life-Altering Bird. I thought the star of the show was going to be the ricotta-stuffed zucchini flowers. But instead, the three of us couldn't shut up about the chicken. I barely did anything to it. I guess I never tasted chicken before.
Roasted Chicken with Stuffed Zucchini Flowers
For the chicken:
One 3 - 4 lb chicken, preferably butchered within the week
8 sprigs thyme
1 tablespoon salt
1/4 cup fresh mixed chopped herbs: thyme, oregano, basil, sage, parsley or whatever savory herbs you have on hand
Olive oil, to drizzle
For the stuffed zucchini flowers:
12 zucchini flowers, rinsed
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small shallot, minced
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 cup ricotta
1/4 cup fresh asiago, grated
1/8 fresh mixed chopped herbs, as above
3 tablespoons butter, melted
Day 1
1. Flatten (aka butterfly) the chicken and place it on a rimmed baking sheet.
2. Loosen the skin over the breast. Slide a full sprig of thyme between the breast meat and skin. Repeat on the other breast and over each thigh/leg.
3. Mix salt and chopped herbs together into a loose paste. Cover the skin of the chicken liberally with the salt paste. Refrigerate, uncovered, for at least 8 hours or overnight.
Day 2
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Drizzle the chicken with olive oil, then roast on the baking sheet for about one hour, or until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reads 175 degrees. Remove from oven and let stand 10 minutes.
2. Once the bird is in the oven: Heat olive oil over medium-low heat. Saute shallot and garlic until translucent, taking care not to burn the garlic.
3. Mix the sauteed garlic and shallot with the ricotta, asiago and minced herbs in medium bowl. Transfer ricotta mixture to a pastry bag, or make one yourself by cutting the corner off a zipper baggie.
4. Pipe the ricotta mixture into each of the cleaned zucchini flowers and place them on a cookie sheet. Drizzle melted butter over the flowers.
5. Put the flowers in the oven when the chicken has about 10 minutes to go. When you remove the chicken, let the flowers go another 5-10 minutes, until the cheese is oozing out and bubbling on the cookie sheet.
6. Serve the chicken in quarters with a few bubbly-cheese flowers on the side.
Tasty Tips
Refrigerating the chicken in the nude helps the skin crisp up in the oven. Don't shirk the fridge time... or the resting time, post-roast.
I found one of these guys inside my zucchini flowers... fortunately BEFORE I stuffed it! Double-check yours as well, or you'll be eating unintentional escargot.
Labels: cooking
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home